2020-02-01 Forbes Asia

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Hong Kong has a new No. 1, albeit by a slim margin: Lee

Shau Kee, at $30.4 billion, has edged out No. 2 Li Ka-

shing, at $29.4 billion, who had topped the Hong Kong

wealth ranking every year since the list was launched in

2008. To be sure, the difference is $1 billion—just above
      3% of net worth—between them.
      The current downturn in Hong Kong helped cut the
      wealth of both property tycoons from last year’s list. Li
      saw his net worth drop 7% while Lee’s net worth is up 1%.
      Lee also saw another, unrelated milestone, as he resigned
      as chairman at his flagship Henderson Land Develop-
      ment last May, handing the reins to his two sons Lee Ka
      Shing and Lee Ka Kit, who became joint chairmen.
      Shares in Li’s property company CK Asset tumbled
      almost 18% over the past year after the company an-
      nounced in August a 38% decline in first-half net profits.
      Henderson Land, meanwhile, reported the same month
      that its own first-half net profit halved year on year fol-
      lowing a one-off spike in property sales the year before.
      Shares in the company, which make up the bulk of Lee’s
      wealth, have dipped by 8% in the past year, recovering
      from an 18% fall from July to September in the wake
      of the mass protests in Hong Kong that battered stocks
      across the sector.
      While both companies cited headwinds created by
      the U.S.-China trade war to explain weaker earnings,
      Henderson added that the protests were creating uncer-
      tainty as well. Prices for retail property in Hong Kong
      have dropped more than 9% since the protests began last
      June, according to the latest government statistics.
      The two tycoons both reached out to help. As the es-
      calating vandalism and violence rattled the city, 91-year-
      old Li urged both protesters and authorities to show re-
      straint. In October, his Li Ka Shing Foundation set up
      the Crunch Time Instant Relief Fund to help the city’s
      small and midsized businesses, providing HK$1 billion
      ($128 million) to 27,000 businesses in sectors most af-
      fected by the unrest.
      Henderson also responded, announcing in November
      that it would lend the government roughly four hectares
      of undeveloped land for seven years to build affordable
      housing. The project, set to create 2,000 units to house
      10,000 families, will be the largest project of its kind in
      Hong Kong’s history.

Peak View

LEE SHAU KEE, LI KA-SHING

Li Ka-shing

Lee Shau Kee